Web site links students to campus surroundings

9/24/09 - Since its establishment in 2007, CampusLive.com has branched out to 88 colleges across the country.The ever-growing Web site is used to connect students to everything on-campus and off-campus, including nearby restaurants, other social networks, weather and news.

"We're trying to expand all over the country," co-owner and Director of Marketing Sasha Grosman said. "We have a few schools in Arizona, Florida, the Northeast and the Midwest."

The URI CampusLive.com homepage provides links to the URI library, Athletics Department, Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, a calendar of events, the URI homepage, eCampus and Sakai.

About 3,500 students from the University of Rhode Island visit the Web site on a daily basis, Grosman said. Of those students, about 1,500 have already taken advantage of the free registration. Students who opt to register on CampusLive.com gain access to the homepage so they may change it to their liking.

"It's always going to be free for students," Grosman said. "It's built by students, for students. It's not our motto, but it's true."

"It's helpful because if I ever want to find a restaurant, the number is right there on the Web site," senior Jenn Dautrich said. "It also has a link for Facebook, which is great because I use it all the time."

The majority of the Web site's founders are recent college graduates. What began as a hobby for these University of Massachusetts-Amherst alumni is now an up-and-coming Web site used by thousands of people every day.

Grosman said he believes the ages of the executive team members of CampusLive.com have played a significant role in "one-upping" competition from other Web sites.

"We are the kids we are helping," Grosman said. "We know what college kids are looking for."

Student ambassadors on each of the 88 campuses using CampusLive.com are responsible for making sure everything on the Web site is up to date, according to Grosman.

"We have students on every campus and without them, we wouldn't be able to do it," Grosman said.

Representatives from the Web site will be visiting up to 30 schools all over the country within the next month and a half as a marketing tour, spreading the word about CampusLive.com and branching out to new schools.